Nathaly and Thomas
Monday, August 22, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
The Rest of France
Cousins at play.
Thomas.
"Just because you look a lot like my Daddy, you can carry me," says Thomas.
Very focused watching the medieval times show.
Knight Mateo in shining armor.
Knight "ME TOO" in shining armor.
THE SKIERS
For an added thrill, Santi would bounce on the skis to create more waves!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
France Pics Part 2
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Progress Report
Our summer came and left in a heartbeat. Two months where we left behind the hassle of life in Caracas and got busy with just being. Being with the extended family, meeting the cousins, swimming, playing soccer, running, riding bikes and Razors, watching fireworks and the stars, painting canvases, playing some tennis, learning to water ski, and eating so much fruit that the boys often had diarrhea!
Santi had his daily dose of scrapes, cuts and bruises: a result of him mastering bike riding and scooting on the Razor, and quite simply, of being fearless. In France, he discovered that there's no need to pee in toilets since he can just as easily pull out his zizi and water the plants. He speaks clearer now, although that baby talk is still there, and he has grown so much! He's adorable and quick as a whip. And he has a will that won't bend or brake. While it's challenging (just a bit!) now, I hope it'll serve him well in the future. And, he's hilarious in a very logical way. The other day he was exploring his mouth with his fingers and discovered that he didn't have his molars. Since he already lost one tooth he figured those four missing molars must have fallen off too. So he proclaims, "I lost 4 tooths." "Where are they?" I asked him. "In my belly!" he answered.
Mateo is full octane energy! Always laughing and pushing the limits of parental discipline and questioning our decisions. While it's a pain to deal with, I'm trying to see it from the positive side: it's all healthy questioning and he certainly has talent to negotiate and dispute all topics!He remains highly sensitive to a lot of what goes on around him and he continues to suffer from the occasional nightmare. But as soon as he arrived in France and shared a room with his brother, little Santi was there to comfort him and willingly share his little bed on troubled nights (my heart would melt when I found them together like that). He made wonderful progress at Fairmont in math and reading and after 4 weeks in France, he's now speaking much better Francais (what a relief for Nico!). And finally, he showed us his potential for dramatic performance: he loves to dance in front of an audience! So much so, that we had to go to Trocadero in Paris just about everyday of our 5 day stay there so he could breakdance! (The parents are now trying to find breakdancing workshops in the States or France. Any leads, please let us know!) Oh, and something very important: Mateo has stopped playing with cars. Developmental progress ... yup ... I see pictures of him now and see a handsome young boy, I hear him play and talk, and it's there as well: a growing boy. And then my heart skips a beat to realize that he's growing so fast, that soon he'll be 6, he'll start loosing his teeth!!!
Both boys discovered the wonderful rapport of having pets. With the family horses, they brushed them, cleaned their shoes, picked apples and fed them to the horses, and rode them to their hearts's content. With Dago, the dog, it was all about caressing and talking to her and Santi would constantly feed her and made sure her water bowl was full. And both of them continued with their fascination with all pee and poo, fueled in part by Papounet's clever invention of a song that just repeats, over and over again, "Pee pee, poo poo!" So if you need Christmas present ideas, there you go: anything potty related!
That sums it up, I think. A little progress report on these two rascals. Next episode: the pictures. Enjoy!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
So Far in France
As we close this page of our vacation in France, it has been perfect for the boys. They have gotten closer to their cave men roots: going barefoot on the grass, peeing in the garden (Santi), picking berries in the forest, sleeping in tents the whole night, watching knights fight, riding horses, and simply being wild. I love the freedom they have had, no worries about anything except falling and scraping their knees or foreheads.
They also got very close their French roots: they have eaten cheese like there is no tomorrow! And in a way they are soooooo right! We'll soon be back to mozzarella balls and other bland white cheese. They loooooooooved all the cheese that their Uncle Vincent and Tata Nabou brought from the mountains in eastern France and our little guy loved the stronger flavors. He demands his cheese after his meal now like it's his birth right! And please, abstain from giving him supermarket cheese. And needless to say, after 3 weeks here, they are speaking French like the locals.
Mateo: "Daddy, you don't say 'oui'; it's 'ouai' (not weee, but weh)
Santi: "Daddy, you can't let Dago (the dog) out, Papounet is going to say, 'Oh shit!'
Tomorrow we embark on the last leg of our trip. We go to Paris for five glorious days. Too short but better than nothing.
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